PARIS: US Secretary of State John Kerry held meetings with allies in Paris on Monday over the Syria crisis ahead of possible wider talks in New York later this week.
Kerry met with his counterparts from France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Turkey, the French foreign ministry said.
He then headed towards Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Monday's talks in Paris involved preparations for a planned meeting in New York on Friday with Russia and Iran -- the two main backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Kerry also met in Paris with his counterpart from Syria's neighbour Jordan, which is tasked with drawing up a list of terrorist groups that will be excluded from the negotiation process.
The New York talks are not yet confirmed, but could lead to a UN resolution, a French diplomatic source told AFP.
"We want to move fast on negotiations and fix a framework with a UN Security Council resolution," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The last major talks in Vienna on November 14 saw the opposing powers agree on a fixed calendar for a ceasefire in Syria, followed by a transitional government in six months and elections one year later.
Syrian opposition figures said the plan was unrealistic, but they are tentatively scheduled to meet with Assad's regime in Vienna in early January.
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